The Espresso Machine Restoration site
A non-commercial site for those interested in espresso equipment repair and restoration.
Model: Linea, 1 Group Semi-Automatic, 220V, Single Phase. 2300W
Approx Date of Manuf: 2002 June
Date acquired: November 2004
Working condition: Yes, taken as working condition, all handles, trim and pump in place.
Notes: A "buy back" from a customer, sold in 2002. It has been passed on a few times I believe
and sat unused for the past 12 months. By all accounts seen only a few months service
Now this machine took a bit of finding I can tell you. The original location that i sold it to in the summer of 2002 only
lasted a few months. As far as I can ascertain it was then sold on to another restaurant where it was found to be too
big for the counter. It was then sold or passed on again to another party over a year ago. After many phone calls
over several months I tracked it down to a small flat tucked away in the outskirts of Hong Kong in an area of country
parks.
The machine came complete with the pump and a barley used Mazzer Super-Jolly. At first glance the machine
exterior definitely showed that it had been used for only a few months. However with the cover off it was a different
matter. The group > boiler gasket had deteriorated and limescale was visible coming out from the gasket. The
sight glass was also very badly scaled and full of dirt. It was then that I recalled that just a few short weeks after this
machine had been installed the check valves were blocked and full of dirt. Despite a filter the water contained a lot
of sediment - my customer had opened in an area in which there was much construction and digging going on
around which may have caused the water quality in that area to have been compromised.
When it came to collect the machine it is always a good idea to help your spine by removing as much weight from
the machine as possible, and the largest contributor to that will be the water inside the boilers. And yes this
machine was still full of water in both boilers. The brew boiler drained with no problem, the steam boiler did not
drain at all from either the drain valve (underside of the boiler) or the sight glass bleed screw. I have had this
happen before when the sediment and scale block the drain but never in an almost new machine. The blockage
was confirmed by poking a screwdriver through the ball valve and into the boiler to clear the blockage.
A full rebuild is necessary for this machine.
The machine was loaned out for November and half of December and the week before the holidays I had some time
to do some work on it. There was one annoying problem - during the time he was on loan the Gicar control unit had
been experiencing some problems. When I first got him back he was ok, more on that later.
I thought it would be fun again to do some before and after shots and then a detailed section later on of some new
components - in particular the PID.
inside and some scale. The stainless steel panels had
slight scuffing and scratching so all of them needed
repolishing.
they always come up nice and clean.
In the left picture, the left brass fitting is the overpressure
vale set around 12 bar. On the right is the drain from the
group 3 way valves.
ever had to clean. I have no idea what was in the water
but the glass was heavily stained and the regular method
of ultrasonic cleaning did nothing.
In the end I had to use some grinding paste.
hot water. For that reason inside the valve there is always
a build-up of limescale.
Both valves had all the gaskets replaced.
machine had been removed from a restaurant and had
been moved many times after that which would explain the
damage.
I changed the colour to a metallic black - looks better IMHO.
gaskets. It was difficult to remove and I was not entirely
certain what it was made off as it was neither the silicone
rubber or the standard paper fibre.
The pic bottom left shows the difficulty I had getting the old
gasket off. It had left such a mark that you can still see the
outline - perhaps it was the sealant that was different?
However the main point to note is that the welded studs
were in perfect shape.
I also goofed as I had forgotten to remove the thermostat
well! Nevermind he was coming out anyway.
to descale for a few days whereas the brew boiler and
copper pipes had about 24 hours.
During that time it comes out many times for wire brushing.
Proceeding past this point may cause you to roll your eyes and say "oh my god!, what has this lunatic
done now?"
There are images of madness and all sorts of fancy crap that have absolutely no influence on the coffee
produced whatsoever - (but I like them)
You have been warned!
will say yes, but please ask first!
Email me here.